Run Eat Tri Yogi

The last few days have been a blur. Mostly due to lack of sleep and my body wondering WTF just happened. But I will never forget the moment I listened to my voicemail when I woke up. “Dye, happy Monday. It’s Mike Reilly…” My heart just stopped. In my groggy state, I wasn’t sure I heard that right, so I started it over as I read the transcript along with it. “I heard you did it all indoors...to do something like that it’s mind over matter...So from me to you, as I love to do, DYE..YOU ARE AN IRONMAN...” As I listen to it again, I’m in tears. It feels like a dream. The last few weeks have been full of ups and downs but what a tremendous lesson I’ve learned. How much I really wanted this. Not the title or being able to say I did an Ironman distance. But to know I could do it. All of the training and preparation wasn’t for nothing. And the fantastic support I have in my life. I am in a state of gratefulness. (PS That phone call from Mike Reilly was facilitated by my friend, Billy. You ma

photo credit Billy S The morning started off like any other race day: early morning alarm with 5 minutes in bed wondering why I decided this was a good idea. I quickly changed into my swimsuit and snuck out of the hotel room for my pre-race swim (if you missed Part 1 , the swim portion of the Ironman had been canceled) I saw that Billy and Gerry were already there and we got to work. I swam for 45 minutes before I couldn't take the burning of the chlorine on my skin and lips. And because it was small and not a lap pool, I kept hitting my hand on the ledges and scraping myself. I still had a race to finish that day. So I wished the guys a great race day and headed back. Gerry (center), Billy (right)  My girl Danyell drove me down to the start and waited with me until transition opened. I also saw my partner-in-Chattanooga-adventures, Greg. We did our first and second 70.3 here (he went onto his 3rd this past year) and now our first full Ironman. What a journey

The day before we were to leave, I was working another full day that included an early morning shift (4:30am) with only a few hours in-between before my late afternoon/evening classes. Everyone was out sick and finding subs was nearly impossible. I was starting to lose my shit.  I hadn't packed yet and we had a 13hr drive ahead of us --> after I worked another 4:30am shift on Thurs. My boss was amazing and found people to cover that morning shift and when I got to my 2nd location that evening, I walked into this Needless to say, between my friends and family (IRL and online) and the awesome people I work with, I had a phenomenal support system. My husband, 2 kids and I set off for TN on Thursday morning and with an overnight stop in Murfreesboro, we finally made it to Chattanooga Fri am.  I'd had more than enough nightmares about not making it to Athlete check-in so I was pretty anxious to get that over with. No check-in by 5pm on Friday, no race. I also found out